The Sarah Mildred Long Bridge will not reopen to traffic until November, a delay of almost two months.
Wet weather this spring pushed construction back, said Maine Department of Transportation spokesman Ted Talbot. The bridge replaces an aging lift bridge by the same name that carried traffic on Route 1 Bypass across state lines.
“We couldn’t do what we needed to do in the timeframe,” he said.
The bridge, between Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Kittery was supposed to open later this month. It is now scheduled to open in mid-to-late November, according to the department’s website.
The Sarah Mildred Long Bridge in 2011 Photo courtesy of the Maine Department of Transportation
In 2013, the original bridge was struck and damaged by a passing tanker. Then in August of 2016, the 76-year-old bridge’s lift span got stuck, forcing its permanent closure.
The new bridge is supposed to be completely finished by summer 2018 and expected to cost $158.5 million.
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